Almost 400 Wirral NHS workers stand to lose their jobs due to COVID vaccine mandate

Almost 400 NHS workers in Wirral are facing the sack when the government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate comes in.

On the latest numbers, published on January 13 and covering the period up to December 31, 93.9% of healthcare workers at Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust, which runs Arrowe Park Hospital, had received their first jab.

More than 91% are double jabbed, while 72.7% have had their booster.

But out of the 6,441 staff at the trust, this leaves 390 who have not had their first dose of the vaccine – and face losing their jobs.

The NHS COVID vaccine mandate, brought in by the government, means staff must be double jabbed by April 1, but anyone who has not had their first jab would need to receive it by February 3 to allow enough time for their second dose.

This leaves the 390 unjabbed staff in a precarious position.

There are growing calls from health groups and unions to delay the vaccine mandate.

Estephanie Dunn, regional director at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) North West, urged the government to delay bringing in the vaccine mandate, saying it could "significantly impact" on the availability of staff.

Ms Dunn said: "The RCN strongly recommends all members are vaccinated as soon as they can. It is considered best practice to protect themselves, service users, as well as friends and family.

"We shared our views during the consultation around mandating this vaccine, and firmly believe that mandating vaccines as a condition of employment may further marginalise those who remain unvaccinated, rather than support them to understand the evidence and choose to access vaccination."

She added: "The RCN has already called upon the government to delay the implementation of the new law, in light of major staffing pressures in England.

"We are concerned that it could significantly impact on the availability of staff which will put further pressure on health and care services in England during a severe shortage of nurses and an increasing demand for care in all settings.

"We recognise that a proportion of our members remain unvaccinated, and this is an individual choice. We must also recognise that some will be clinically exempt.

"Our priority is to make sure all members have access to the support and information they need to make their decision."

A Wirral University Teaching Hospital Trust spokesperson said: "Our top priority is patient safety and having the vaccine is the best protection against COVID-19 for both our patients and staff.

"We are actively encouraging our staff to have the vaccination.

"We are currently working with the minority of staff who have not yet been vaccinated and those whose vaccination status is unknown, to understand their reasons for this so we can support them to make an informed decision."

There have been reports that the government may delay bringing in the vaccine mandate for NHS workers, but at the moment the policy still stands.

Speaking at a select committee earlier this week, Health Secretary Sajid Javid reiterated that the policy was about patient safety, but added that all covid policies are kept "under review".

Mr Javid said: "The whole principle is about patient safety. That's what motivates me and that's what motivated the government in this decision. It's about patient safety. And that principle is unchanged here. The patient safety must come first."

Reflecting on some opposition to the policy, Mr Javid added: "Some people say that you should add boosters if you're going to do it, then add boosters because the government and others have already set out the evidence of why two vaccines aren't quite good enough.

"You need three so some people say, I've [heard] this other say, why didn't you drop mandation altogether?

"I think it is right in light of Omicron that we reflect on all this. And [keep] all covid policies properly sort of under review. And because it's the Omicron [it] is different to Delta.

"Equally, we don't know what the next version is going to be. We talked a bit about that earlier. But we are reflecting on all this."